10 Mistakes I Made When Publishing My First Book - Self-Publishing Tips Part #4 - #getpublished

Since I just finished a series of posts on
the right away to promote your books and get reviews, I thought I’d share the blunders
that you can avoid, too.

I have made my share of mistakes while navigating the choppy seas of self-publishing and trying to make a living as a writer. Some days I feel so discouraged and others I feel lucky to have such an awesome job.

Before I self-published my first book, I
did have a plan and a set of goals. I even hired two editors to help me polish
up my manuscript, a book cover designer, and I did some online promoting. I co-own a
medium eBook publishing company, but I did most of the publishing on my own.

Nevertheless, there was still a lot that I
didn’t know. And other things I did know (like using keywords), but for
whatever reason, I didn’t utilize them. This post is meant to be helpful and
advise you not to make the same blunders that I did when I was starting out on
my publishing journey.

These mistakes are all taken from my own
personal experience and in no particular order…

Mistake
1) Not setting up a mailing list on my website
and blog right away. This is so important and the first thing every writer
should do. Build an email list of readers who love your writing style and send
out an email whenever you publish a new book or have a promo. (Be careful not
to spam them too often.)

Mistake
2) Not asking book bloggers and/or reviewers
to post a review on Amazon or goodreads. I just assumed that most of them would
or that it was rude to ask. Make it easy for them by politely asking and
providing links to where you want the reviews posted.

Mistake
3) Not having a link to purchase the other
books in my series at the end of each eBook. If you have published more than
one book, then make sure at the end of any and all previous published titles
that you include a blurb (back jacket copy) and a link to buy your other
novels.

Update every single book you have already published whenever you
self-publish a new title. (I know it sounds like a pain in the butt, however,
as a self-published author you are also running a business and doing all the
marketing. Never miss an opportunity to sell more books.)

Mistake
4) Responding to negative reviews. (Yeah, I’m
not proud of this.) I know it’s hard
(like a punch to the gut or a stab to the heart) to read anything negative
about your work and not feel defensive. It is natural and normal to want to
respond—but don’t. Remain
professional and just try to STOP reading reviews.

Mistake
5) Being too lazy to update my keywords or use
them effectively. I had read about keywords on blogs and forums and in marketing books,
but I didn’t think they were all that vital. Boy, was I wrong, wrong, wrong.

I was lucky enough to have another
talented and successful writer explain how they work and why having the right
ones would boost sales. Once I revised and entered the new keywords, my books
sales tripled within about six weeks. (It does not happen overnight, so be
patient.)

Mistake
6) Not “branding” my book series with an
original series title. I just picked a random series title without researching
it. “Spellbound” is so widely used that something more original would have been
better.

Mistake
7) Not “branding” my book covers in my YA
series. Each of my covers had a different look, so at a glance readers couldn’t
tell what the reading order was.

Marketing Tip: And book covers in a series with the exact
same image used on every cover can be confusing for readers, too. And since
only self-published writers seem to do this, it will red flag an author as not traditionally published. If you want to "brand" your series, you can use similar images and the exact same font style on every cover instead, just like designers do on a traditionally published series. In my opinion, the goal is make your book appear as if it has been professionally published by having a quality-looking book cover and amazing product description, among other things that will weed out your competition.

Mistake
8) Wasting money on blog tour companies. (No
offense to the ones that are actually helpful.) I had more success and reached
more reviewers on my own. Yeah, it is time-consuming, but so worth it. There
are many sites that have lists of book bloggers by genre that you can use to contact reviewers on your
own. Create your "review request letter" and do your own promotion.

Mistake
9) Not connecting with readers. I should have
started a “street team” after the first book was published to help promote my
other novels. Interacting with readers is so awesome and fun. Readers and book
bloggers are so supportive and amazing that if you are lucky enough to build a fandom, they will become your biggest promoters.

Mistake
10) Sending out ARCs to reviewers, and then
two weeks later, sending them a revised version after catching a typo or plot
hole, because I was worried about getting negative reviews. This only made
bloggers angry and cluttered their inbox. (My advice is that once you send it
to a reviewer, do not contact them again. Not even to follow up and ask if they
had read the book yet or posted the review. Unless, you are promoting for a
pre-order and want to send reviewers a polite reminder the day the book goes
live.)

I made a lot of stupid mistakes doing this
on my own, and if you can avoid some of mine, you’ll have a much better chance
at success with your first published book.

However, I did do a few things right, like
having critique partners go over my manuscript, working with professional editors, and getting a professional book cover design, contacting book
bloggers, and also studying marketing techniques.

Bonjour & Welcome

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